Packed with fun and dynamic pictures, Amazing Maltese Women is bursting with personality as it showcases seventeen women ranging from Sliema World War II heroine Henrietta Chevalier, Codename M, and Agatha Barbara, the first Maltese MP and president; to Mabel Strickland, the editor of Times of Malta from 1935-1950, and of course, Daphne Caruana Galizia. Or in the arts, there’s Maria De Domenica, one of the first recorded female artists in the world; Karmen Azzopardi, Malta’s first professional actress, and Madame Manfré, a legendary Maltese dress-maker who worked in a New York fashion house, assisting the French fashion designer Jean Patou. Look out too for muscle, and air raid warden Mary Ellul with a rowdy soldier tucked under each bicep.
The personality and achievements of each of these notable women is presented as informal bite-sized facts or musings, and there are dozens of little nuggets of humour to spot throughout: prehistoric Tina is seen, for example, ticking off a pig-chasing child whilst administering herbal medicine, and you can’t help but smile at the light-hearted reference to Instagram as she sculpts a sleeping lady from clay for posterity.
Fast forward to the sixteenth century and you’ll meet flame-haired Clara La Spatura, a sixteenth century blacksmith in Birgu who ran her own business at the times of the knights. It is likely that she was amongst those who provided swords for the knights of Malta during the Great Siege. “No wonder the Ottomans lost that battle!” adds Kristina.
The story of Clara – and many other fascinating women whose tales could easily have been lost, were saved by Joan Abela, who also makes an appearance in Joan-of-Arc armour and then a superhero cape. Keen on history from an early age, Joan rescued priceless documents from archival doldrums and poured through them to discover how women lived in the Middle Ages.
And just as Joan continues to make an invaluable contribution to our understanding of our past, so does this book, by bringing to life strong and wonderful women in a clear and engaging way to inspire a new generation.
Read our author interview.
You can order your copy from Merlin Publishers.
